Who invented Baking Powder Subs?
I had originally thought the concept for the first sub was born out of school type science experements that was eventually turned into a toy. However a recent purchase on eBay has lended me a little more history. In this case it was a baking powder killer whale, who’s instructions included the following tidbit… In 1953 Benjamin & Henry Hirsch, owners of a small cosmetic lab, discovered that the gas (carbon dioxide) created when baking powder comes in contact with water could be used to raise a submerged object. Delighted with their discovery they made a crude model of a submarine that could dive and surface & presented it to a major cereal company in nearby Battle Creek, Michigan. The rest is history. Introduced in 1954 for twenty-five cents and one box top, the four-and-one-half inch long working model of the submarine U.S.S. Nautilus required three shifts to keep up with orders. By May of that year over one million subs had been produced and work was started on a two-and-one-eighth
